Hey, long time no see. Yeah, I know, I'm falling behind on updating. I've been pretty busy lately, but hopefully I'll pick it back up sooner or later.
One of the things that I've been busy on is making a walkthrough for Exit 2. You can check it out on GameFAQs. I'll be updating it periodically, as of this writing I only have the first two stages done (and I've only got the game beat up to half of the fourth stage). I'm also considering making a Heavy Weapon guide, but I should probably wait until I finish this one first.
Anyway, make sure you check the guide out here. Thanks!
Monday, March 23, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
The Behemoth Game #3
Let's get this out of the way now: I am a huge Castle Crashers fan. I also liked Alien Hominid, (the little of it that I played) so when I hear that the Behemoth has released a trailer, you can imagine the fangirlish screams that were...screamed. I'll shut up now; you go watch.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Classic Review - Geometry Wars
I hate to say it, but the first Geometry Wars just wasn't my favorite XBLA game. It's good, just not incredibly awesome. This was the first review I ever wrote, so it's not quite as in-depth as my other ones have been.
Pros:
-Addictive
-Great graphics
-Variety of enemies
Cons:
-Nearly impossible achievements
-Becomes too hard too fast
The first Geometry Wars game appeared as a mini-game in the game Project Gotham Racing 2 in 2003. Since then, Bizzare Creation's game has spawned several sequels on different consoles, from the DS to the Wii to the Xbox. Having never played any of the previous titles, I bought this game not knowing what to expect, but hoping that it would serve as a fun, bite-sized distraction.
Xbox Live Arcade introduces the game's first sequel, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved. Several features have been added; the most notable of these is the graphics. The play area has been expanded, and the camera has been zoomed in. Sparks fly when you hit a wall, and the background becomes distorted around the area where you shoot. It all looks and feels very nice.
New enemies have also been added. Joining the roster of blue diamonds, green boxes, and red circles are pinwheels, which move around randomly, snakes that can only be killed by hitting a certain point, red claw-like enemies that follow you at high speeds, and small triangles, which are easily killed but come in such huge quantites that you are likely to be overwhelmed.
In fact, 'overwhelmed' will be a very common feeling while playing this game. The game initially starts out slow. You are first presented with some pinwheels that are hardly a threat, and even when the diamonds appear, they do not present much of a challenge. However, this soon changes, and it won't be long before you are completely surrounded by enemies out for your head. The game takes an extremely large amount of patience and practice, perhaps too much. You will likely only get scores in the 5-digit area on your first go around, and it is then when you realize how difficult it will truly be to get those achievements.
The achievements are another area that the game does not particularly excel in. They vary from unlikely to nearly impossible. The game has the standard 12 achievements for 200 gamerpoints. Out of those 200, I have gained 20. I have played this game a lot, too. The game awards you for gaining certain amounts of points. However, they also award you for getting those same amount of points without dying, which seems rather uncreative. Getting one million points seems unlikely, but one million points without losing a life makes you wonder what exactly the developers were thinking.
However, the game is not as terrible as I am making it sound. It is still fun to play and will have its hooks in you, if only for a day or so. The controls are so delightfully simple, a caveman could do it. Left analog stick to move, right analog stick to fire. The bumper buttons will release a bomb that will purge the screen of all enemies, providing you with a two or three second break. Believe me, you will be wanting as many breaks as you can.
Overall, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved provides you with a fun experience, with stunning graphics, simple controls, and just pure fun. It is not without its flaws, however, which gives this game a solid 3 out of 5.
Image Credits: Bizarre Creations
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved
3/5
3/5
Pros:
-Addictive
-Great graphics
-Variety of enemies
Cons:
-Nearly impossible achievements
-Becomes too hard too fast
The first Geometry Wars game appeared as a mini-game in the game Project Gotham Racing 2 in 2003. Since then, Bizzare Creation's game has spawned several sequels on different consoles, from the DS to the Wii to the Xbox. Having never played any of the previous titles, I bought this game not knowing what to expect, but hoping that it would serve as a fun, bite-sized distraction.
Xbox Live Arcade introduces the game's first sequel, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved. Several features have been added; the most notable of these is the graphics. The play area has been expanded, and the camera has been zoomed in. Sparks fly when you hit a wall, and the background becomes distorted around the area where you shoot. It all looks and feels very nice.
New enemies have also been added. Joining the roster of blue diamonds, green boxes, and red circles are pinwheels, which move around randomly, snakes that can only be killed by hitting a certain point, red claw-like enemies that follow you at high speeds, and small triangles, which are easily killed but come in such huge quantites that you are likely to be overwhelmed.
In fact, 'overwhelmed' will be a very common feeling while playing this game. The game initially starts out slow. You are first presented with some pinwheels that are hardly a threat, and even when the diamonds appear, they do not present much of a challenge. However, this soon changes, and it won't be long before you are completely surrounded by enemies out for your head. The game takes an extremely large amount of patience and practice, perhaps too much. You will likely only get scores in the 5-digit area on your first go around, and it is then when you realize how difficult it will truly be to get those achievements.
The achievements are another area that the game does not particularly excel in. They vary from unlikely to nearly impossible. The game has the standard 12 achievements for 200 gamerpoints. Out of those 200, I have gained 20. I have played this game a lot, too. The game awards you for gaining certain amounts of points. However, they also award you for getting those same amount of points without dying, which seems rather uncreative. Getting one million points seems unlikely, but one million points without losing a life makes you wonder what exactly the developers were thinking.
However, the game is not as terrible as I am making it sound. It is still fun to play and will have its hooks in you, if only for a day or so. The controls are so delightfully simple, a caveman could do it. Left analog stick to move, right analog stick to fire. The bumper buttons will release a bomb that will purge the screen of all enemies, providing you with a two or three second break. Believe me, you will be wanting as many breaks as you can.
Overall, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved provides you with a fun experience, with stunning graphics, simple controls, and just pure fun. It is not without its flaws, however, which gives this game a solid 3 out of 5.
Image Credits: Bizarre Creations
Monday, March 9, 2009
Classic Review - Feeding Frenzy
This Monday's review is a little on the short side, but it gets the message across. I didn't care much for this game, but make sure you download the demo to form your own opinions.
Feeding Frenzy
2/5
Pros:
-Interesting gameplay
Cons:
-Frustrating
-Gets old fast
Every so often a game comes along that should be good, but isn't. It has all of the right qualities of a "good" game, but there's just something about it that can just ruin the entire experience. Feeding Frenzy by Sprout Games (published by PopCap) feels like one of those games.
The objective of Feeding Frenzy is simple enough. You start as a small fish trying to eat your way up the food chain. At first you have to consume the tiny fish to increase your growth bar, but once you eat a certain amount, you level up. This makes you bigger, and therefore allows you to eat larger fish. However, it is not quite that easy, as larger fish are trying to eat you. You are constantly dodging the bigger fish to get to the smaller fish, and it all just turns into, well, a feeding frenzy.
This is further complicated by the addition of different obstacles. There are oysters, which will eat you if they close on you, but sometimes contain pearls that you can snatch if you are quick enough. There are sharks, whose entrance are announced by an exclamation point and tend to follow you around. There are jellyfish, which will stun you and any other fish that touches it. And there are mines, which kill you instantly, and finally there are poisonous fish, which will reverse your controls for a bit if you eat them.
And of course, what good would a game be without power-ups. Available power-ups include a starfish that increases your score, a 1-Up that gives you an extra life, a shield that protects against one attack, a speed boost that makes you swim faster, and a stun, that makes every fish on the screen stop in its place.
Now all this sounds good, but unfortunately, the game has many flaws. Let's start with the camera. The entire level cannot be shown all at once, and the camera scrolls along with you. But the camera doesn't scroll until you reach around the edge of the screen. This means that there can be a shark waiting just at the edge of the screen to eat you, and you won't know about it until you've already been gobbled up. And trust me, this happens a lot. It's enough to make you want to cry after playing the first few rounds. This flaw could have been easily avoided by having the camera follow you without waiting for you to reach the edge of the screen, or by not having the camera scroll at all.
While the camera will bear most of your frustrations, you will also come across some little things that will just push your buttons. For example, sometimes you appear to be "sucked in" by larger fish and get eaten, even though you weren't near its mouth. The fact that larger fish can eat other smaller fish will also prove to be frustrating. Other little things like this just make Feeding Frenzy an unpleasant experience.
All in all, I wouldn't recommend this game to anyone but your kids. They will probably find much more enjoyment of it than you ever will. Feeding Frenzy is a game with potential that is bogged down with little things that make it a frustrating ride. You will tire of it very quickly. I give it a 2 out of 5.
Picture source: Teamxbox.com
2/5
Pros:
-Interesting gameplay
Cons:
-Frustrating
-Gets old fast
Every so often a game comes along that should be good, but isn't. It has all of the right qualities of a "good" game, but there's just something about it that can just ruin the entire experience. Feeding Frenzy by Sprout Games (published by PopCap) feels like one of those games.
The objective of Feeding Frenzy is simple enough. You start as a small fish trying to eat your way up the food chain. At first you have to consume the tiny fish to increase your growth bar, but once you eat a certain amount, you level up. This makes you bigger, and therefore allows you to eat larger fish. However, it is not quite that easy, as larger fish are trying to eat you. You are constantly dodging the bigger fish to get to the smaller fish, and it all just turns into, well, a feeding frenzy.
This is further complicated by the addition of different obstacles. There are oysters, which will eat you if they close on you, but sometimes contain pearls that you can snatch if you are quick enough. There are sharks, whose entrance are announced by an exclamation point and tend to follow you around. There are jellyfish, which will stun you and any other fish that touches it. And there are mines, which kill you instantly, and finally there are poisonous fish, which will reverse your controls for a bit if you eat them.
And of course, what good would a game be without power-ups. Available power-ups include a starfish that increases your score, a 1-Up that gives you an extra life, a shield that protects against one attack, a speed boost that makes you swim faster, and a stun, that makes every fish on the screen stop in its place.
Now all this sounds good, but unfortunately, the game has many flaws. Let's start with the camera. The entire level cannot be shown all at once, and the camera scrolls along with you. But the camera doesn't scroll until you reach around the edge of the screen. This means that there can be a shark waiting just at the edge of the screen to eat you, and you won't know about it until you've already been gobbled up. And trust me, this happens a lot. It's enough to make you want to cry after playing the first few rounds. This flaw could have been easily avoided by having the camera follow you without waiting for you to reach the edge of the screen, or by not having the camera scroll at all.
While the camera will bear most of your frustrations, you will also come across some little things that will just push your buttons. For example, sometimes you appear to be "sucked in" by larger fish and get eaten, even though you weren't near its mouth. The fact that larger fish can eat other smaller fish will also prove to be frustrating. Other little things like this just make Feeding Frenzy an unpleasant experience.
All in all, I wouldn't recommend this game to anyone but your kids. They will probably find much more enjoyment of it than you ever will. Feeding Frenzy is a game with potential that is bogged down with little things that make it a frustrating ride. You will tire of it very quickly. I give it a 2 out of 5.
Picture source: Teamxbox.com
Coming Wednesday - Peggle, Crystal Defenders, and Maw DLC
The insanely addictive casual game Peggle is coming to XBLA this Wednesday. Along with 55 levels and 75 challenges, you'll get both competitive and co-operative multiplayer game modes over XBox Live! Shock awe and amazement! Pick it up for 800 Microsoft Points ($10).
Also coming Wednesday is Crystal Defenders, a title published by Square Enix that features characters from Final Fantasy Tactics A2. Play through "over 300 stages of action...with three different game versions." It will also be available for 800 Microsoft Points ($10).
Last but not least, a game from earlier this year, the Maw, will be receiving its first downloadable content, in the form of River Redirect. You can grab it for the small price of 160 Microsoft points.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Days of Arcade
Remember the Summer of Arcade from last year, the five weeks where they released great games like Castle Crashers and Braid? Well, they're at it again, with Days of Arcade. You can expect seven new games in the coming six weeks starting on March 18th. (Yes, that's right, they're releasing two games on one day) The games are:
Source: Majornelson.com
- The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai - The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai is an intense 2-D action platforming game with a unique highly stylized look and fast and fluid action. The game's hero is a lowly dishwasher (the occupation, not the appliance) who has lost everything, including his heart, at the hands of the deceptive and evil cyborg movement and is seeking revenge against a mechanized soulless army. (Source: Xbox.com)
- Flock - Herd sheep using UFOs.
- Hasbro Family Game Night - Battleship, Yahtzee, Scrabble, and Connect Four
- Lode Runner - Remake of a classic Amiga platformer
- Outrun Online Arcade - Racing game remake
- Puzzle Quest: Galactrix - Needs no introduction...
- UNO Rush - An upgraded game by the people who brought you the original UNO.
Source: Majornelson.com
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Leaked videos, Worms screens
I'm sick this week, so news posts are going to be short. ='(
Space Invaders Extreme and Yosumin Live!
Head on over to Joystiq to watch some gameplay footage of Space Invaders Extreme and Yosumin Live. Curiously enough, SIE seems to have the Bomberman LIVE achievements... Click here for the videos.
Worms: Armaggedon Screens
Also found on Joystiq, Team 17's profile page has just been updated with a couple Worms: Armaggedon screens for XBLA, showing off Avatar support and the nice visuals. Click here for the photos.
Source: Joystiq
Space Invaders Extreme and Yosumin Live!
Head on over to Joystiq to watch some gameplay footage of Space Invaders Extreme and Yosumin Live. Curiously enough, SIE seems to have the Bomberman LIVE achievements... Click here for the videos.
Worms: Armaggedon Screens
Also found on Joystiq, Team 17's profile page has just been updated with a couple Worms: Armaggedon screens for XBLA, showing off Avatar support and the nice visuals. Click here for the photos.
Source: Joystiq
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